Alleging that SC/ST and OBC seats in the AIIMS faculty are not being filled up, Opposition SP, BSP and Congress in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday demanded that the on-going faculty appointment process in the top medical institution should be stopped till Government clears the air on the issue.

Samajwadi Party (SP) has strongly criticised the eviction procedure against its MP Neeraj Shekhar, over which there was an uproar on Monday in Rajya Sabha, with party leader Ram Gopal Yadav saying that such an action was "deplorable" and had never happened before.

SP national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav on Monday regretted describing some of his cadres, who did not support the party during Lok Sabha polls, as "traitors", saying that it was not an appropriate word.

Six Samajwadi Party candidates, including its national general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and Tazeen Fatima, wife of senior Cabinet minister Mohd Azam Khan, on Monday filed their nominations for Rajya Sabha.

Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi`s remarks on ending caste-based reservation and going for quota on economic criteria created a stir on Wednesday with SP stoutly opposing the proposal and BJP and SAD questioning its timing.